Chapter 6 - The Stolen Life
Wesley took a slow, measured step toward Thaddius.
"For four months," Wesley said, his voice echoing in the empty, candlelit room. "I have had my people looking into you, Thaddius. Because I wanted to know exactly why the hardest-working woman in my building looked so terrified every time a door opened."
Cora gasped softly, her hand flying to her mouth. He had been investigating her abuser this whole time.
Thaddius swallowed hard, visibly shaking. "You don't know what you're talking about! I paid for her food! I put a roof over her head!"
"You put a roof over her head," Wesley corrected, "with the life insurance money you stole from her mother."
Cora’s heart stopped. "What?" she whispered.
Wesley didn't look away from Thaddius. "Cora’s mother didn't die completely broke, did she, Thaddius? She had a massive policy meant entirely for her daughter’s education and future. But you forged the documents as her guardian, drained the account, and forced a child to work to pay your gambling debts while you lived off her inheritance."
The room spun. Cora grabbed the edge of a table to steady herself. All those years of wearing rags. All those nights sleeping in the freezing living room while Thaddius drank away the money. It had all been a lie. He hadn't saved her; he had enslaved her.
"It was my money!" Thaddius shrieked, cornered and desperate. "I earned it for putting up with her!"
Wesley’s facial micro-expressions didn't change, but his eyes turned completely black.
"Rowan," Wesley said quietly.
Rowan and another enforcer stepped forward instantly. They grabbed Thaddius by his arms, effortlessly lifting the struggling man off his feet.
"Wait! Wait!" Thaddius screamed, kicking wildly. "I'll give it back! I'll pay her back!"
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"You don't have the money," Wesley stated. "But you do have two hands. And those are the hands you used to strike her."
👉 What brutal mafia justice will Wesley order his men to deliver?
